Though supposed to be an intense, devastating finale, “On the Road Again” was full of predictable, forced non-drama. Despite spoilers, like knowing that Rob Lowe’s character was dying, I’d hoped I would still be glued to the TV from beginning to end. Unfortunately, the episode barely held my interest for the whole hour.
After the loss of Ojai, unemployed Sarah has become depressed. She’s now a television-addicted couch potato who eats cold pizza for breakfast. Meant to be the comic relief for the episode, I’ll admit that a few of her moments make me chuckle. But the joke quickly gets old, and soon enough I’m more annoyed than amused by her sorry state. I also worry about her alcohol addiction in this episode, and wonder if they’re going to bring it back next season. Yes, she’s happy again now that they discovered that Narrow Lake is an aquifer, but it’s an angle to consider. However, next season will probably focus on Sarah building up the new family water company…or even using the new funds to resurrect Ojai.
Of course, the Justin and Rebecca drama also continues. Given her selfish behavior lately, I’m not surprised – just frustrated – when she tells Justin that she took the job despite his objections. The two of them thinking they can survive a separation for a year is laughable when their relationship is already on thin ice. Wasn’t Justin just saying last week that they need to fix their issues? How is that going to happen now? I’m willing to bet money that in the next season opener, we find out that one of them had an affair during their time apart.
Meanwhile, Saul goes for HIV testing after he learns over Facebook that one of his former lovers has been living with AIDS for years. Though I’ll admit I knew the ending thanks to spoilers, it’s still obvious that he has the disease, or that writers want you to think he has the disease, the second the subject was brought up. The story line wouldn’t have been started if it was just going to end with a phone call. But Saul actually getting the results isn’t shown, so who knows – viewers on IMDB have posted the very valid argument that maybe he doesn’t get the results yet, and is just paranoid when Kevin came over to him.
In the background of the main drama, Saul and Scotty plan the opening of Scotty’s new restaurant, a probable main focus next season. Though there’s the rumor of the time jump, which would bypass all the problems a beginning entrepreneur might face. Maybe writers want to skip ahead to the challenges Scotty and Kevin face caring for a baby and a successful business at the same time.
The news of Rob Lowe’s departure has been known for a while now, so with Robert’s questionable new job, his departure has been heavily anticipated. Would he really die, or just be taken out of the picture? The revelation of Robert’s political enemy indicated that he would be killed off. This seemed especially so in the finale, when we find out that Robert plans to release tapes that could severely harm the enemy who had threatened Kitty’s campaign.
And then he dies in a car crash. Even though it appears to be a total accident, I’m still not convinced. Maybe it was, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we learn next season that Robert’s brakes had been tampered with, which worsened the situation. Or maybe the original car that had caused the accident was hired by the enemy to cause the crash. As I said before – the show can’t create that much drama, just for it to go nowhere.
(Side note: His trip to the hospital is not even worth noting. Based on the trailer, it was known that he was going to be involved in the car crash…which didn’t happen by the time Robert collapsed. It was painfully obvious that he was going to be fine. The only reason for this was for Robert to tell Kitty what was going on with the political enemy.)
Aside from Robert, I thought the entire car crash was way overdone. Putting Holly’s life on the line as a distraction was totally useless, because we all knew it would be Robert. Unless they are actually going to kill Holly off, in which case I will be very upset. But since there’s been no rumors of Patricia Wettig wanting out of the show, my guess is that maybe Holly will be paralyzed come next season premiere. Likewise, some other Walkers might still be recovering from injury, like Kevin, since his hand was seriously hurt. But if that’s not the case, and Robert is the only victim while everyone else ends up fine, incredible potential would be lost.
After this dull, unsatisfying season finale, I can’t wait until next season so I can fall in love with Brothers & Sisters again. Though there are many predictable routes the show can take, I’m hoping the season five opener will completely blow our minds.
